The change is an update of the 2011 AP Stylebook, which included this entry for hopefully:

hopefully It means in a hopeful manner. Do not use it to mean it is hoped, let us hope or we hope.

Right: It is hoped that we will complete our work in June.

Right:We hope that we will complete our work in June.

Wrong as a way to express the thought in the previous two sentences: Hopefully, we will complete our work in June.

Now the example called wrong in 2011 is right. According to the AP Stylebook, it is now acceptable to write "Hopefully, we will complete our work in June."

This may not seem like a big deal, but to many linguistic sticklers it is the end of the world of correctness.

Although I don't see its use as the world's end, I am not going to use hopefully for "it is hoped." Why? Because too many old-school grammarians will think I don't know better. As Bryan Garner says of hopefully in Garner's Modern American Usage, "If you use it in the newish way [as "it is hoped"], a few readers will tacitly tut-tut you."

The "old way" to use hopefully is as a traditional adverb, as in "She waited hopefully for her brother to return." The "new way" just sanctioned by AP might be "Hopefully, her brother will return."

AP is not the first reference manual to approve hopefully for "it is hoped." These guides, along with Garner's Modern American Usage, have already called it acceptable:

The Gregg Reference Manual

The Chicago Manual of Style: "The newer meaning . . . seems here to stay. But many careful writers deplore the new meaning."

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: "The second sense of hopefully is entirely standard."

Canadian Oxford Dictionary: "There are no grounds for condemning this use."

Hopefully,It is hoped that this new AP ruling makes sense to you. Please share your reaction.

Comments

The Pimsleur language program says there are more than 5,000 languages on earth, only 500 with a written component. This would argue that language is primarily a spoken activity; literacy is a relatively modern development.

Similarly, NPR reports in "The (Monkey) Business Of Recognizing Words" - http://ow.ly/agPWv - that speaking and reading use different brain areas.

One of my old college professors argued that there are actually four grammars: how people speak, how grammarians describe speech, how people write, and how grammarians describe writing. See "Not Just One but Four Grammars" - and Why That's Good" - http://ow.ly/aofSQ - for details.

My point is that in topics such as "hopefully," we need to be careful about cart-and-horse issues. While those who "tut, tut" are judging the cart, most people are busy riding the horse bareback. As professional writers, we need to demonstrate that the best transportation employs both cart and horse in proper order.

Hi, Les. Thanks for another very helpful comment. I have not yet clicked your links for more information, but I enjoy having them there to investigate when I have more time.

The point of the four grammars is very interesting!

Despite your vivid cart-and-horse metaphor, I am still going to hold back from using the newly acceptable "hopefully." I have been remembering to avoid it for too long. But I won't urge others to do so. We can each ride the train of language our own way.

There is also a cultural nuance.
I well remember doing some work in the Middle- East, and disagreeing with a business partner who told a client "hopefully we will finish by ". I said how we were committed to achieve the timeline and told the client our efforts would ensure success. My mistake was in not appreciating the meaning of "hopefully - i.e. "God willing". Hmmm, error.